I had the most inconsiderate dream

I dreamed I was in line at the supermarket. The woman in front of me was halfway through checking out when she decided to go to the bathroom. This annoyed me because I only had a few items. You would think the cashier would find a way to ring me up while the woman was in the bathroom, but no. I asked if she could take me but she just gave me a blank look.

The woman was in the bathroom for several minutes and when she came out, I decided to confront her. I asked her if she really needed to go to the bathroom right at that moment. Couldn’t she wait just a few minutes until her order was totaled and she was out of everyone’s way?

“Uh, no. It couldn’t wait,” she said.

Excuse me? Are you copping an attitude with me after you inconvenienced me?

There may have been a big throwdown after that in the checkout aisle but I woke up. It’s inconsiderate to make people wait behind you because you’re screwing around. I get in and out of line as fast as possible. I never cause any problems with “my credit card won’t go through so they have to call the bank” or any other nonsense. That’s the worst: When the person in front of me has a transaction that’s causing a problem and they sigh and look at me as if to say, “Can you believe this ridiculous store?” when it’s the customer who is the problem.

I shy from confrontation like it’s the bubonic plague but there was a time when I did decide to confront someone at the supermarket checkout. A woman in front of me in the express lane had well over 15 items so I pointed it out to her in a polite way. She told me the other cashiers said she could use the express lane, I guess in the interest of expediting things overall in the store. She looked kind of embarrassed, as if she knew it would backfire and someone would call her on it.

The fact that the store told her she could get in the express lane was explanation enough for me so the issue was closed. I felt bad. The one time I decide to confront someone and she’s a nice, apologetic woman with a good excuse.

Now that I remember it, there was another time when I called someone out for bad behavior in line. I had to have been 9 or 10 and was in line at the snack bar at the pool. I was at the front of the line but when the cashier asked who was next, the adult in back of me tried to order instead of me, speaking right over my head. I said, “Excuse me but I was first” and gave my order. I remember being proud for speaking up at a young age.

What kind of asshole tries to jump in line in front of a kid?